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In Russia, all church art is extremely conservative, and the architecture of churches is no exception. Experiments are unacceptable, everything is done according to the classical canons, and any deviation is perceived with hostility. The Catholic Church is much more progressive in this regard. Remember, for example, according to the project of the postmodernist Mario Botta, or. There are many such examples, often churches become architectural landmarks, and even new symbols of the city in which they are built.

Recently, I came across an interesting project: they want to turn an abandoned TV tower in Yekaterinburg into a church. Pretty bold. What do you think?

The project of the church was proposed by the architectural workshop "PTARH and Partners". According to its employees, the church of St. Catherine is best placed in an abandoned TV tower.

Anatoly Ptashnik, director of the workshop:

"We developed these sketches on our own initiative, because something needs to be done with the TV tower. We have two concepts. Either it will be a temple, or a religious and cultural center, that is, in addition to the temple, there will be concert hall, forum, exhibition space. This work was done to continue and unite the discussions about the fate of the TV tower and the Church of St. Catherine, in order to come to some kind of consensus about these significant objects.

The architect believes that the temple located in the TV tower will become an excellent high-rise dominant. At the same time, he declares that he is ready for discussions on this topic.

According to another project, the temple was proposed to be built in the water area of ​​the City Pond. But this location has caused a lot of controversy among the locals. And the idea of ​​building a temple in the TV tower, according to Ptashnik, on the contrary, should unite everyone.

This is the first version of the project.

And this is the second one.

Unlike Catholic churches, which were built in accordance with the artistic style prevailing during construction, Orthodox churches were built in accordance with the symbols of Orthodoxy. Thus, each element of an Orthodox church carries some information about who the church is dedicated to, some features of Orthodoxy itself, and much more.

SYMBOLS OF THE TEMPLE

temple shape

• Temples in shape cross were built as a sign that the Cross of Christ is the Foundation of the Church, by the Cross humanity is delivered from the power of the devil, by the Cross the entrance to paradise is opened.
• Temples in shape circle, as a symbol of eternity, they speak of the infinity of the existence of the Church, its indestructibility.
• Temples in shape eight-pointed star symbolize Star of Bethlehem who led the Magi to the place where Christ was born. In this way, the church testifies to its role as a guide in human life.
• Temples in shape ship- the most ancient type of temples, figuratively expressing the idea that the Church, like a ship, saves believers from the disastrous waves of worldly navigation and leads them to the Kingdom of God.

• There were also mixed types temples, connecting the above-named forms.

Buildings of all Orthodox churches always end with domes that symbolize the spiritual sky. The domes are crowned with crosses, as a sign of the redemptive victory of Christ. Orthodox cross, erected above the temple, has an eight-pointed shape, sometimes at its base there is a crescent moon, which has many symbolic meanings assigned to it, one of which is the anchor of the Christian hope for salvation by faith in Christ. The eight ends of the Cross mean eight major periods in the history of mankind, where the eighth is life of the Future.

Number of domes

The different number of domes, or domes, at the temple building is determined by the one to whom they are dedicated.

• Single Temple: the dome marks the unity of God, the perfection of creation.
• Double Temple: two domes symbolize the two natures of the God-man Jesus Christ, two areas of creation (angelic and human).
• Three-domed temple: three domes symbolize the Holy Trinity.
• Four-domed temple: four domes symbolize the Four Gospels, the four cardinal directions.
• Five-domed temple: five domes, one of which rises above the others, symbolize Jesus Christ and the four evangelists.
• Seven-headed temple: seven domes symbolize seven Sacraments of the Church, seven Ecumenical Councils, the seven virtues.
• Nine Temple: nine domes symbolize nine orders of angels.
• Thirteen-headed temple: thirteen domes symbolize Jesus Christ and the twelve apostles.

The shape and color of the dome also have a symbolic meaning.

The helmet-shaped form symbolizes the spiritual warfare (struggle) that the Church is waging with the forces of evil.

bulb shape symbolizes the flame of a candle.

The unusual shape and bright coloring of the domes, as, for example, at the Church of the Savior on Spilled Blood in St. Petersburg, speaks of the beauty of Paradise.

Dome color

• Golden domes at churches dedicated to Christ and twelfth holidays
• Domes blue with stars testify that the temple is dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary.
• temples with green domes dedicated to the Holy Trinity.

TEMPLE DEVICE

The scheme of the building of an Orthodox church presented below reflects only the most general principles of temple construction, it reflects only the main architectural details inherent in many temple buildings, organically combined into a single whole. But with all the variety of temple buildings, the buildings themselves are immediately recognizable and can be classified according to the architectural styles to which they belong.

Absida- an altar ledge, as if attached to the temple, most often semicircular, but also polygonal in plan, it houses the altar.

Drum- a cylindrical or multifaceted upper part of the temple, over which a dome is built, ending with a cross.

light drum- a drum, the edges or cylindrical surface of which is cut through by window openings

Chapter- a dome with a drum and a cross crowning the temple building.

Zakomara- in Russian architecture, a semicircular or keeled completion of a part of the outer wall of a building; as a rule, repeats the outlines of the vault located behind it.

Cube- the main part of the temple.

Bulb- a church dome resembling an onion in shape.

Nave(French nef, from Latin navis - ship), an elongated room, part of the interior of a church building, limited on one or both longitudinal sides by a row of columns or pillars.

Porch- an open or closed porch in front of the entrance to the temple, elevated in relation to ground level.

Pilaster(shovel) - a constructive or decorative flat vertical protrusion on the wall surface, having a base and a capital.

Portal- architecturally designed entrance to the building.

marquee- a high four-, six- or octahedral pyramidal covering of a tower, temple or bell tower, widespread in the temple architecture of Russia until the 17th century.

Gable- completion of the facade of the building, portico, colonnade, fenced with roof slopes and a cornice at the base.

Apple- a ball at the end of the dome under the cross.

Tier- decreasing in height horizontal division of the volume of the building.


Belfry, belfries, bells

Bell tower- a tower with an open tier (ringing tier) for bells. It was placed next to the temple or included in its composition. Pillar-like and tent-shaped belfries are known in medieval Russian architecture, along with belfries of wall-like, pillar-like and ward types.
Pillar-shaped and hipped bell towers are single-tiered and multi-tiered, as well as square, octagonal or round in plan.
Pillar-shaped bell towers, in addition, are divided into large and small. Large bell towers are 40-50 meters high and stand separately from the temple building. Small pillar-shaped bell towers are usually part of the temple complex. The variants of small bell towers known now differ in their location: either above the western entrance to the church, or above the gallery in the northwestern corner. Unlike free-standing pillar-shaped bell towers, small ones usually had only one tier of open chime arches, and the lower tier was decorated with architraved windows.

The most common type of bell tower is the classic single-tier octagonal hipped bell tower. This type of bell towers became especially widespread in the 17th century, when hipped bell towers were almost an integral part of the Central Russian landscape. Occasionally, multi-tiered hipped bell towers were built, although the second tier, located above the main ringing tier, as a rule, did not have bells and played a decorative role.

Under the influence of Western European culture in Russian monasteries, temples and cities architectural ensembles Baroque and classical multi-tiered bell towers began to appear in abundance. One of the most famous bell towers of the 18th century was the large bell tower of the Trinity-Sergius Lavra, where four more tiers of ringing were erected on the massive first tier.

Before the advent of bell towers ancient church for bells, belfries were built in the form of a wall with through openings or in the form of a belfry-gallery (ward belfry).

Belfry- this is a structure built on the wall of the temple or installed next to it with openings for hanging bells. Types of belfries: wall-shaped - in the form of a wall with openings; pillar-shaped - tower structures with a multifaceted base with openings for bells in the upper tier; ward type - rectangular, with a covered vaulted arcade, with supports along the perimeter of the walls.

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The end of persecution in the 4th century and the adoption of Christianity in the Roman Empire as the state religion led to a new stage in the development of temple architecture. The external, and then the spiritual division of the Roman Empire into Western - Roman and Eastern - Byzantine, also influenced the development of church art. In the Western Church, the basilica is the most widespread.

In the Eastern Church in the V-VIII centuries. the Byzantine style was formed in the construction of temples and in all church art and worship. Here were laid the foundations of the spiritual and external life of the Church, since then called Orthodox.

Types of Orthodox churches

Temples in Orthodox Church several types, but each temple symbolically corresponded to church dogma.

1. Temples in the form cross were built as a sign that the Cross of Christ is the foundation of the Church, by the Cross mankind is delivered from the power of the devil, by the Cross the entrance to Paradise lost by the forefathers is opened.

2. Temples in shape circle(a circle that has neither beginning nor end, symbolizes eternity) speak of the infinity of the existence of the Church, its indestructibility in the world according to the word of Christ

3. Temples in shape eight-pointed star symbolize the star of Bethlehem, which led the Magi to the place where Christ was born. Thus, the Church of God testifies to its role as a guide to the life of the Age to Come. Period earth history humanity was numbered in seven great periods - centuries, and the eighth is eternity in the Kingdom of God, the life of the future age.

4. Temple in shape ship. Ship-shaped temples are the most ancient type of temples, figuratively expressing the idea that the Church, like a ship, saves believers from the disastrous waves of worldly navigation and leads them to the Kingdom of God.

5. Temples of mixed types : on appearance cruciform, and inside, in the center of the cross, round, or rectangular in external shape, and inside, in the middle part, round.

The scheme of the temple in the form of a circle

The scheme of the temple in the form of a ship

Cruciform type. Church of the Ascension beyond the Serpukhov Gates. Moscow

The scheme of the temple built in the shape of a cross

Cruciform type. Church of Barbara on Varvarka. Moscow.

Cruciform shape. Temple of Nicholas the Wonderworker

Rotunda. Smolensk Church of the Trinity-Sergius Lavra

The scheme of the temple in the form of a circle

Rotunda. Church of Metropolitan Peter Vysoko-Petrovsky Monastery

Rotunda. Church of All Who Sorrow at Ordynka. Moscow

Temple diagrams in the form of an eight-pointed star

Ship type. Church of Dmitry on the Blood in Uglich

The scheme of the temple in the form of a ship

Ship type. Temple life-giving Trinity on Sparrow Hills. Moscow

Byzantine temple architecture

In the Eastern Church in the V-VIII centuries. formed Byzantine style in the construction of temples and in all church art and worship. Here were laid the foundations of the spiritual and external life of the Church, since then called Orthodox.

Temples in the Orthodox Church were built in different ways, but each temple symbolically corresponded to the church doctrine. In all types of temples, the altar was certainly separated from the rest of the temple; temples continued to be two - and more often three-part. The dominant in Byzantine temple architecture remained a rectangular temple with a rounded ledge of altar apses extended to the east, with a figured roof, with a vaulted ceiling inside, which was supported by a system of arches with columns, or pillars, with a high domed space, which resembles the internal view of the temple in the catacombs.

Only in the middle of the dome, where there was a source of natural light in the catacombs, they began to depict the True Light that came into the world - the Lord Jesus Christ. Of course, the similarity of Byzantine churches with the catacombs is only the most general, since the ground churches of the Orthodox Church are distinguished by incomparable splendor and greater external and internal detail.

Sometimes they rise several spherical domes topped with crosses. An Orthodox church is certainly crowned with a cross on the dome or on all domes, if there are several of them, as a sign of victory and as evidence that the Church, like all creation, chosen for salvation, enters the Kingdom of God thanks to the Redemptive Feat of Christ the Savior. By the time of the Baptism of Russia in Byzantium, a type of cross-domed church was taking shape, which combined in a synthesis the achievements of all previous directions in the development of Orthodox architecture.

Byzantine temple

Byzantine church plan

Cathedral of St. Mark in Venice

Byzantine temple

Cross-domed church in Istanbul

Mausoleum of Galla Placidia in Italy

Byzantine church plan

Cathedral of St. Mark in Venice

Hagia Sophia in Constantinople (Istanbul)

The interior of the church of St. Sophia in Constantinople

Church Holy Mother of God(tithe). Kyiv

Cross-domed churches of Ancient Russia

architectural type Christian temple, formed in Byzantium and in the countries of the Christian East in the V-VIII centuries. It became dominant in the architecture of Byzantium from the 9th century and was adopted by the Christian countries of the Orthodox confession as the main form of the temple. Such well-known Russian churches as: Kyiv Sophia Cathedral, Sophia of Novgorod, Vladimir Assumption Cathedral were deliberately built in the likeness of Sophia Cathedral in Constantinople.

Old Russian architecture is mainly represented by church buildings, among which cross-domed churches occupy a dominant position. In Russia, not all variants of this type became widespread, but buildings of different periods and different cities and principalities Ancient Russia form their own original interpretations of the cross-domed church.

The architectural design of the cross-domed church is devoid of the easily visible visibility that was characteristic of basilicas. Such architecture contributed to the transformation of consciousness ancient Russian man, elevating it to an in-depth contemplation of the universe.

While preserving the general and basic architectural features of Byzantine churches, Russian churches have a lot of originality and originality. In Orthodox Russia, several original architectural styles have developed. Among them, first of all, the style that stands closest to the Byzantine stands out. it toclassical type of white stone rectangular church , or even basically square, but with the addition of an altar part with semicircular apses, with one or more domes on a figured roof. The spherical Byzantine form of dome cover was replaced by a helmet-shaped one.

In the middle part of small temples there are four pillars that support the roof and symbolize the four evangelists, the four cardinal points. In the central part of the cathedral church there may be twelve or more pillars. At the same time, the pillars intersecting between them form the signs of the Cross and help to divide the temple into its symbolic parts.

The Holy Equal-to-the-Apostles Prince Vladimir and his successor, Prince Yaroslav the Wise, sought to organically incorporate Russia into the universal organism of Christianity. The temples erected by them served this purpose, placing believers before the perfect Sophian image of the Church. Already the first Russian churches testify spiritually to the connection between earth and heaven in Christ, to the God-human nature of the Church.

Sophia Cathedral in Novgorod

Demetrius Cathedral in Vladimir

Cross-domed church of John the Baptist. Kerch. 10th century

Sophia Cathedral in Novgorod

Assumption Cathedral in Vladimir

Assumption Cathedral of the Moscow Kremlin

Church of the Transfiguration in Veliky Novgorod

Russian wooden architecture

In the 15th-17th centuries, a significantly different style of temple construction from the Byzantine one developed in Russia.

Oblong rectangular ones appear, but certainly with semicircular apses to the east, one-story and two-story churches with winter and summer churches, sometimes white-stone, more often brick with covered porches and covered arched galleries - walkways around all walls, with a gable, four-slope and figured roof, on which they show off one or more highly raised domes in the form of domes, or bulbs.

The walls of the temple are decorated with elegant decoration and windows with beautiful carvings made of stone or with tiled platbands. Next to the temple or together with the temple above its narthex, a high hipped bell tower with a cross at the top is erected.

Russian wooden architecture acquired a special style. The properties of wood as a building material determined the features of this style. It is difficult to create smooth forms of a dome from rectangular boards and beams. Therefore, in wooden temples, instead of it, there is a pointed tent. Moreover, the church as a whole began to give the appearance of a tent. This is how wooden temples appeared to the world in the form of a huge pointed wooden cone. Sometimes the roof of the temple was arranged in the form of a set of wooden domes with crosses ascending cone-shaped upwards (for example, the famous temple on the Kizhi churchyard).

Church of the Intercession (1764) O. Kizhi.

Assumption Cathedral in Kem. 1711

Church of St. Nicholas. Moscow

Church of the Transfiguration of the Lord (1714) Kizhi Island

Chapel in honor of the Three Saints. Kizhi Island.

Stone hipped churches

The forms of wooden temples influenced stone (brick) construction.

They began to build intricate stone hipped churches, resembling huge towers (pillars). The Pokrovsky Cathedral in Moscow, better known as St. Basil's Cathedral, is rightfully considered the highest achievement of stone tent architecture, a complex, intricate, multi-decorated building of the 16th century.

At the heart of the plan, the cathedral is cruciform. The cross consists of four main churches, located around the middle, fifth. Middle church- square, four side - octagonal. The cathedral has nine temples in the form of cone-shaped pillars, which together make up one huge colorful tent in general outline.

Tents in Russian architecture did not last long: in the middle of the 17th century. the church authorities forbade the construction of tent churches, since they differed sharply from the traditional one-domed and five-domed rectangular (ship) churches.

Hip architecture of the 16th-17th centuries, originating in traditional Russian wooden architecture, is a unique direction of Russian architecture, which has no analogues in the art of other countries and peoples.

TEMPLE ARCHITECTURE

Temple architecture occupies an exceptional place in architecture. Based on the same principles and methods of construction, church buildings are strikingly different from civil buildings.

Even the best examples of secular buildings - luxurious palaces, cannot compete in beauty and grandeur with grandiose temples, which in any culture were considered the apogee of the development of building art.

One cannot but agree with this, admiring the architecture, for example, of the majestic St. Isaac's Cathedral in St. Petersburg or the almost fabulous St. Basil's Cathedral in Moscow. The best aspirations of the human spirit are embodied in temple architecture.

Many temples, due to their beauty, grace and monumentality, are not only the main sights of cities, but can also claim to be their historical symbol. For example, the most ancient Russian city of Vladimir is inconceivable without the Assumption Cathedral, and Sergiev Posad near Moscow - without temple complex Holy Trinity Sergius Lavra.

The architecture of the temple does not express the usual desire to organize a residential and comfortable space (which we see in civil architecture), but an attempt by a person to express his path to God through monumental architecture. Temple construction is saturated with symbolism, as an expression of that faith that inspires a person to dedicate his best creation to his Creator.

Temples in Russia were built in different styles: from wooden architecture to the majestic Empire style. But an invariable feature of Orthodox churches is its symbolic correspondence Orthodox faith. In architecture, this was expressed in the form of church buildings, which, as a rule, at the base of the foundation have either a Cross as a symbol of salvation, or a circle as a symbol of eternity, or resemble a ship as an ancient symbol of the Church, saving her children in a raging sea of ​​worldly passions.

Church architecture is an integral part of Russian culture. However, remarkable examples of temple architecture are presented not only in Russia. For example, the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad has temples of amazing beauty: this is the majestic St. Alexander Church in Paris, which Russian writers abroad so loved to visit, and the Cathedral of the New Martyrs and Confessors of Russia in Munich, which is strict in its brevity, and the Holy Trinity Monastery in Jordanville.

The temple differs from secular buildings not only in rich symbolism and elegance of architectural forms, a church building is, first of all, a place where the soul meets God, a place of a special state of mind - prayer. Visiting the temple not only on native land, but also being on tourist trips abroad, you join the richest spiritual culture of Orthodoxy.

Temple architecture, of course, is a special area of ​​architecture, in which there is an invisible soul of the masters who decorate the temple inside. At all times, the most important stage in the construction of temples was the internal wall and ceiling painting. The subtle artistic taste of the fresco masters, multiplied by a reverent attitude to the theme of the work, eventually created real masterpieces of church painting, which to this day serve as a standard of human spirituality and self-awareness.

FORMATION OF TEMPLE ARCHITECTURE

The Lord, who created man from the dust of the earth, gave him the opportunity to know Himself in the entire universe surrounding man. According to the words of the Apostle Paul, “His invisible things, His eternal power and Divinity… are visible through looking at the creatures” (Rom. 1:20). The wise Creator introduces man into the world He created as into a beautiful temple, in which “everything that breathes glorifies the Lord” (Ps. 150:6).
In the pagan sense, the temple was in the narrow sense the dwelling of some "deity". This manifested the limitations of paganism, which did not comprehend that God, being above all material things, simultaneously abides in the whole world.

Christianity, which became the dominant worldview in the Byzantine Empire from the 4th century, did not follow the path of destroying the architectural achievements of antiquity: the Church only processed the experience accumulated over the centuries in the light of Christ's Truth. Christianity was preached as far as possible without violating the established local traditions and way of life. The first buildings in which prayer meetings and services of ancient Christians took place after gaining freedom of religion were basilicas.

The basilica is a typically Roman type of building. These structures were erected in the centers public life ancient cities and were the places of its concentration. Here decisions of the city authorities were announced, legal proceedings were carried out, exchange operations were carried out, trade deals were concluded, business meetings were arranged. The fact that Christian services were transferred to buildings with these functions suggests that the Church, after being legalized on a national scale, is entering the very center of public life. Ancient Christians began to prefer the basilica also because buildings of this type were never used for pagan ritual purposes.

The layout of the basilica is fully consistent with the rank of Christian worship: the interior of the building is usually divided by two rows of columns into three parts (naves); the western apse, unlike similar structures of pre-Christian times, is usually absent, and a transverse nave (transept) is attached to the eastern apse to expand the chancel; the central nave is much higher and wider than the lateral ones, in addition, it has additional lighting due to two rows of windows in the upper part. The right nave is reserved for men, the left for women, as required by the ancient charter of the Church; the bishop is given a central position, and in pre-Christian times the same position was usually occupied by a judge. These observations point to social order Churches. In contrast to the pagan understanding of the temple as the house of the "deity", the Christian temple is a place of worship, "domus ecclesia" - the house of the Church as an organization of believers. The interior decoration of a Christian church is of great importance: the walls protect believers from the outside world, revealing the spiritual world through frescoes and mosaic images, and all attention is directed to the holy altar, where the Sacrament of the Eucharist is celebrated. In the 4th century, the construction of basilica churches took place mainly in the East.

Along with basilicas, an important place in ancient Christian architecture was occupied by structures of the centric type: mausoleums, baptisteries, and temples. The ancient Christian mausoleums were a direct continuation and development under new conditions of the architecture of late antique mausoleums of the beginning of the 4th century. The upper volume of these structures was initially divided by deep niches, and later by windows, due to which a new architectural element appeared - a light drum that served bearing base for the dome.

From the first centuries of its existence, the Church of Christ established the custom of celebrating the Sacrament of the Eucharist at the places of suffering of the holy martyrs. In the III-IV centuries, over the burial places of the holy martyrs, Christians began to build temples (martyriums), outwardly resembling ancient mausoleums; at the same time, there was a tendency to turn the burial structures of pre-Christian times into Christian churches.

At the same time, the formation of the architecture of the temples of the cross-centric type took place. The earliest of the buildings of this kind is the temple of San Lorenzo, which has survived to this day, built in the 70s of the 4th century in Milan. This building is square in plan, on each side of which semicircular apses are attached, which gives it a peculiar shape of a cross. Although some architectural analogies can be traced in some structures of the late Roman period (for example, separate rooms of palace complexes and baths), one cannot but see in the appearance of this type of temples the desire of Christian architects to apparently glorify the Honest and Life-Giving Cross Christ is the instrument of human salvation and the symbol of eternal victory over death and the devil.

The idea of ​​a Christian church as a reflection of the Kingdom of God, where everything comes from Christ and returns to Christ, was subsequently fully embodied in the unsurpassed masterpiece of the 6th century - the Hagia Sophia in Constantinople, which became the basis for the formation of the Christian architectural canon for many centuries. The achievement of this ideal was preceded by many years of creative search by church architects, evidence of which is centric churches, in which the main idea of ​​the Cross of the Lord is clearly visible as the center and foundation of the entire Christian worldview.

Middle Ages and temple architecture

The life of a medieval person is closely connected with the earth. The aesthetic moment is widely developed in its culture. This type of person is self-sufficient, whole. In the heroic epic, in epics, we have before us strong natures, in which the word does not disagree with the deed, they are direct, sincere; and the more power a man has, the more responsibility he bears. The culture of the Middle Ages is not based on the individual. People live by the norms intended for the whole team. Freedom is a negative category, it is understood as willfulness. These features of thinking were reflected in architecture, primarily temple architecture.

In the Russian Middle Ages, processes are taking place that are in many respects similar to European ones. In Europe, the Middle Ages begins with the destruction of the monuments of Antiquity - in Russia, pagan art is anathematized. Latin remains the language of worship in the Catholic Church - Orthodox worship is conducted in Church Slavonic (a modified Old Church Slavonic) language (this is important, since the cultural values ​​of previous eras are available primarily to people close to the church). Christianity is gradually becoming the dominant ideology, and both in Europe and in Russia, this process goes from south to north.

It is not purely our national feature that the Russian art of the Middle Ages was formed in the clash of two ways - patriarchal and feudal, and two religions - paganism and Christianity. The same thing is happening in Europe: dual faith, especially in the north and west, the gradual transition of pagan deities into the category of lower, demonic ones (and in our country, the functions of the old gods were often attributed to the saints).

The Russian Middle Ages begins with the christening of Russia. It is difficult to overestimate the significance of this event. Together with Christianity, Russia adopted certain foundations of culture from Byzantium. In particular, stone architecture began to meet the new state and ideological tasks, samples of which were taken from Byzantium. A type of cross-domed church was created there, the basis of which is a rectangular room with four or more pillars in the middle, dividing the interior into nine parts. The center of the temple is the domed space, where light enters through the windows in the drum. Cells covered with cylindrical vaults adjoin the domed space, forming a cruciform basis of the plan. The corner parts are covered with domes or barrel vaults. The entire central space in the plan forms a cross. The dome appears in Byzantium in the Justinian period, even before the cross dome (Sophia of Constantinople).

In the same place, a dome system on sails is formed. Three faceted or semicircular apses adjoin the building on the eastern side. An altar is placed in the middle. In the western part there is a room of the second tier - the choirs. The transverse space in the western part is called the vestibule, the narthex.

However, relying on the traditions of Byzantine art, Russian masters created their own national art, their own forms of temples, wall paintings and iconography, which cannot be confused with Byzantine, despite the common iconography.

The rapid development of temple building in our time, in addition to its positive beginning, has also negative side. First of all, this concerns the architecture of the erected church buildings. There are frequent cases when architectural solutions depend on the taste of the donor or the rector of the temple, who do not have necessary knowledge in the field of temple architecture.

The state of modern church architecture

Opinions of professional architects on the problem of modern church architecture are very different. Some believe that the tradition interrupted after 1917 should now be started from the moment it was forced to stop - from the Art Nouveau style of the early twentieth century, in contrast to the modern cacophony of architectural styles of the past, chosen by architects or customers according to their personal taste. Others welcome innovation and experimentation in the spirit of the modern architecture of secular buildings and reject the tradition as outdated and out of touch with the spirit of modernity.

Thus, the current state of the architecture of Orthodox churches in Russia cannot be considered satisfactory, since the correct guidelines for the search for architectural solutions have been lost. modern temples and criteria for assessing past experience, which is often used under the guise of following tradition.

The necessary knowledge of the traditions of Orthodox church building is being replaced by many with thoughtless reproduction of “samples”, stylization, and tradition is understood as any period of domestic church building. National identity, as a rule, is expressed in copying traditional techniques, forms, elements of the external decoration of temples.

In the domestic history of the 19th–20th centuries, there was already an attempt to return to the origins of Orthodox church building, which in the middle of the 19th century led to the emergence of the Russian-Byzantine style, and at the beginning of the 20th century, the neo-Russian style. But these were the same "styles", only based not on Western European, but on Byzantine and Old Russian samples. With the general positive direction of such a turn to historical roots, nevertheless, only “examples” as such, their stylistic characteristics and details served as a support. The result was imitative works, the architectural solution of which was determined by the level of knowledge of the "samples" and the degree of professionalism in their interpretation.

In modern practice, we observe the same pattern of attempts to reproduce "samples" from the whole variety of diverse heritage without penetrating into the essence, into the "spirit" of the designed temple, to which the modern architect-temple builder, as a rule, has nothing to do, or he does not have enough for this. sufficient education.

The buildings of churches, which in Orthodoxy, like icons, are sacred for believers, with a superficial approach of architects to their design, cannot possess the energy of grace, which, of course, we feel when contemplating many ancient Russian churches built by our spirit-bearing ancestors in a state of humility, prayers and reverence before the shrine of the temple. This humbly repentant feeling, combined with fervent prayer for the sending down of God's help in the creation of the temple - the house of God, attracted the grace of the Holy Spirit, with which the temple was built and which is present in it to this day.

The creation of each Orthodox church is a process of co-creation of man with God. An Orthodox church should be created with the help of God by people whose work, based on personal ascetic, prayerful and professional experience, is consistent with the spiritual tradition and experience of the Orthodox Church, and the created images and symbols are involved in the heavenly prototype - the Kingdom of God. But if the temple is not designed church people only with a glance at the photographs of temples in textbooks on the history of architecture, which in these textbooks are considered only as “monuments of architecture”, then no matter how “correctly” the temple was executed, conscientiously copied from a similar “sample” with the necessary corrections related to modern requirements to designing, then the believing heart that seeks true spiritual beauty will certainly feel the substitution.

It is extremely difficult to objectively assess what is being built today only on the basis of formal features. For many people who often come to the temple with a heart hardened during the years of atheism, perhaps they do not have sharp thoughts about the discrepancy between what is happening in the temple and what they see in front of them. People not yet fully included in church life, as people with an undeveloped ear for music, will not immediately feel these false notes. Details familiar to the eye and often an abundance of decorations under the guise of splendor can overshadow untrained spiritual vision and even to some extent please the worldly eye, without raising the mind to grief. Spiritual beauty will be replaced by worldly beauty or even aestheticism.

We need to realize that we should think not about how best to continue the “tradition”, understood from the point of view of architectural theorists, or how to create an earthly beautiful temple, but how to solve the tasks facing the Church, which do not change, despite what changes in architectural styles. temple architecture is one of the types of church art, which is organically included in the life of the Church and is called upon to serve its purposes.

Basics of Orthodox Church Architecture

1. traditional

The immutability of Orthodox dogmas and the rite of worship determines the fundamental immutability of the architecture of an Orthodox church. The basis of Orthodoxy is the preservation of the teachings of Christianity, which was enshrined Ecumenical Councils. Accordingly, the architecture of an Orthodox church, reflecting this unchanging Christian doctrine, extremely stable and traditional at its core. At the same time, the variety of architectural solutions of temples is determined by the features of its functional use (cathedral, parish church, memorial church, etc.), capacity, as well as the variability of elements and details used depending on the preferences of the era. Some differences in temple architecture observed in different countries professing Orthodoxy are determined by climatic conditions, historical conditions of development, national preferences and national tradition associated with the peculiarities of the national character. However, all these differences do not affect the basis of the architectural formation of an Orthodox church, since in any country and in any era, the dogma of Orthodoxy and the worship for which the temple is built remain unchanged. Therefore, in Orthodox temple architecture, at its core, there should not be any “ architectural style” or “national direction”, except for “universal Orthodox”.

The convergence of temple architecture with the style of secular buildings, which took place in the period of the New Age, was associated with the penetration of the secular principle into church art in connection with the negative processes of the state-imposed secularization of the Church. This affected the weakening of the figurative structure of church art as a whole, including the architecture of the temple, its sacred purpose to be an expression of heavenly prototypes. Temple architecture at that time largely lost its ability to express the innermost content of the temple, turning into pure art. Temples were perceived in this way until recently - as monuments of architecture, and not as the house of God, which is “not of this world”, and not as a shrine, which is natural for Orthodoxy.

Conservatism is an integral part of the traditional approach, and this phenomenon is not negative, but a very cautious spiritual approach to any innovation. Innovations are never denied by the Church, but very high demands are placed on them: they must be revealed by God. Therefore, there is a canonical tradition, that is, following the patterns accepted by the Church as corresponding to its dogmatic teaching. The samples used in the canonical tradition of temple building are necessary for architects to imagine what and how to do, but they have only a pedagogical value - to teach and remind, leaving room for creativity.

Today, “canonicity” often means the mechanical implementation of some mandatory rules that constrain the creative activity of an architect, although there has never been any “canon” as a set of mandatory requirements for temple architecture in the Church. The artists of antiquity never perceived tradition as something fixed once and for all and subject only to literal repetition. The new that appeared in temple building did not radically change it, did not deny what was before, but developed the previous one. All new words in church art are not revolutionary, but successive.

1. Functionality

Functionality means:

The architectural organization of a meeting place for members of the Church for prayer, listening to the word of God, the celebration of the Eucharist and other sacraments, united in the rite of worship.

Availability of all the necessary auxiliary facilities associated with worship (panomarka, sacristy, church shop) and the stay of people (dressing room, etc.);

Compliance with technical requirements related to the stay of people in the temple and the operation of the temple building (microclimatic, acoustic, reliability and durability);

Cost-effective construction and operation of church buildings and structures, including construction in stages using optimal engineering and construction solutions, the necessary and sufficient use of external and internal decoration.

The architecture of the temple should organize the space of the temple to create conditions for worship, conciliar prayer, and also, through the symbolism of architectural forms, help to understand what a person hears in the word of God.

1. Symbolism

According to the church theory of the relationship between the image and the prototype, the architectural images and symbols of the temple, when performed within the framework of the canonical tradition, can reflect the prototypes of heavenly existence and attach to them. The symbolism of the temple explains to believers the essence of the temple as the beginning of the future Kingdom of Heaven, puts before them the image of this Kingdom, using visible architectural forms and means of pictorial decoration in order to make the image of the invisible, heavenly, Divine accessible to our senses.

An Orthodox church is a figurative embodiment of the dogmatic teaching of the Church, a visual expression of the essence of Orthodoxy, gospel preaching in images, stones and colors, a school of spiritual wisdom; a symbolic image of the Divine Himself, an icon of the transfigured universe, the heavenly world, the Kingdom of God and paradise returned to man, the unity of the visible and invisible world, earth and sky, the earthly Church and the heavenly Church.

The form and arrangement of the temple are connected with its content, filled with Divine symbols, revealing the truths of the Church, leading to heavenly prototypes. Therefore, they cannot be arbitrarily changed.

1. the beauty

An Orthodox church is the center of all the most beautiful things on earth. It is magnificently decorated as a place worthy for the celebration of the Divine Eucharist and all the sacraments, in the image of the beauty and glory of God, the earthly house of God, His beauty and majesty Heavenly Kingdom. Grandeur is achieved by means of architectural composition in synthesis with all types of church art and the use of the best possible materials.

The main principles for constructing the architectural composition of an Orthodox church are:

The primacy of the internal space of the temple, its interior over the external appearance;

Construction of the internal space on the harmonious balance of two axes: horizontal (west - east) and vertical (earth - sky);

Hierarchical construction of the interior with the dominance of the under-dome space.

Spiritual beauty, which we call splendor, is a reflection, a reflection of the beauty of the heavenly world. Spiritual beauty that comes from God should be distinguished from worldly beauty. The vision of heavenly beauty and co-creation in "synergy" with God made it possible for our ancestors to create temples, the splendor and grandeur of which were worthy of heaven. In the architectural solutions of ancient Russian churches, the desire to reflect the ideal of the unearthly beauty of the Kingdom of Heaven is clearly expressed. Temple architecture was built mainly on the proportional correspondence of parts and the whole, and decorative elements played a secondary role.

The high purpose of the temple obliges the temple builders to treat the creation of the temple with the utmost responsibility, to use all the best that modern construction practice has, all the best from the means of artistic expression, however, this task must be solved in each specific case in its own way, remembering the words of the Savior about the jewel and two mites brought from the heart. If works of ecclesiastical art are created in the Church, then they must be created by highest level, which is only conceivable under the given conditions.

1. In the field of architecture of a modern Orthodox church

The guideline for modern temple builders should be a return to the original criteria of church art - the solution of the problems of the Church with the help of specific means of temple architecture. The most important criterion for evaluating the architecture of the temple should be the extent to which its architecture serves to express the meaning that was laid in it by God. Temple architecture should not be regarded as an art, but, like other types of church creativity, as an ascetic discipline.

In the search for modern architectural solutions for a Russian Orthodox church, the entire Eastern Christian heritage in the field of church building should be used, not limited only to the national tradition. But these samples should not serve to copy, but to penetrate the essence of the Orthodox church.

When building a temple, it is necessary to organize a full-fledged temple complex that provides all the modern multilateral activities of the Church: liturgical, social, educational, missionary.

Preference should be given to building materials based on natural origin, including brick and wood, which has a special theological justification. It is advisable not to use artificial building materials that replace natural ones, as well as those in which there is no human manual labor.

1. In the field of decisions made by the Church

Development of "exemplary" economical projects temples and chapels of various capacities that meet the modern requirements of the Church.

Involvement of professional temple architects in the work of diocesan structures for temple construction. Establishment of the post of diocesan architect. Interaction with local architectural authorities in order to prevent the construction of new churches that do not meet the modern requirements of the Church.

Publications in church publications of materials on issues of church building and church art, including new designs of churches with an analysis of their architectural and artistic advantages and disadvantages, as was the case in pre-revolutionary Russia.

1. In the field of creativity of architects-temple builders

The architect-temple-builder must:

Understand the requirements of the Church, that is, express the sacral content of the temple by means of architecture, know the functional basis of the temple, Orthodox worship in order to develop a planning organization in accordance with the specific purpose of the temple (parish, memorial, cathedral, etc.);

To have a conscious attitude towards the creation of a shrine temple as a sacral act close to church sacraments, like everything that is done in the environment of the Church. This understanding should be consistent with the way of life and work of the architect-temple builder, his involvement in the life of the Orthodox Church;

To have deep knowledge of the fullness of the traditions of universal Orthodoxy, the heritage of all the best that was created by our predecessors, whose spirit was close to the spirit of the Church, as a result of which the temples created corresponded to the requirements of the Church, were conductors of her spirit;

Possess the highest professionalism, combine traditional solutions with modern construction technologies in their work.

Mikhail KESLER